(25 Jan 2021, 2:30 am)omnicity4659 wrote I totally agree. There's a few things which Best Impressions gets right, such as the smaller details which are often overlooked by other studios (stickers, interiors, timetables and in a lot of cases they're a bit tidier too).
But their 'ideas' are repetitive and boring, this isn't a new thing. I spotted designs from 1998 which had the same format or background image for three different operators serving Heathrow! Beacon, although didn't have the best 'finish' did bring a lot of ideas and seemed to know the area a lot better. There wasn't an anti-car agenda or a focus on promoting green credentials from them either. Slogans like "go the greener way" or "it's posher than your car" isn't going to wash with car drivers, people marketing public transport needs to see the benefits from both sides as well as the perception of current and future customers, not the silly clichés which are going around...
I think Best Impressions relies on naivety and a lack of expertise from their clients to survive, people who care and work in design see straight through their c**p.
I have both opinions on Ray and Best Impressions. If the current situation is bland and boring, his liveries are great and really bring the company into the modern era. Take the refresh of East Yorkshire as an example of this, the old regime ran it very traditionally and it needed pulling into the 21st century, or the various bits he’s done around FirstGroup such as the Excel in Norfolk.
But when you’ve already got strong unique branding, I think bringing in Best Impressions has been a retrograde step. GNE seems to be gradually turning into a carbon copy of Transdev in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Rather than unique brands like The Blaydon Racers and Red Kite we’ve got nondescript brands that could be anywhere, all the with the same thin and thick font, and slogans on the back like we see everywhere. I know Fab56 flowers and all were ridiculed here, but how long did it take to come up with Cityrider?!